Kalra Kalan, Gujrat; March 24 & 25, 2023: The police undertook criminal and painful desecration of the local Ahmadiyya mosque here, for little reason.
Prior to the incident, a CTD official visited the site on March 21 and tried to photograph the mosque and its minarets. He was persuaded to go back, but he returned the next day. He said that the department was insisting on the required photography. He took some photographs and left. On March 24, the DSP and SHO of Police Station Larri Adda, Gujrat came with a contingent on two vehicles and stated that they intended to demolish the minarets. Upon this, the delegation of the Jamaat elders told them that the mosque was around 70 years old, and the minarets were there all along. The DSP replied that mosques belong only to Muslims and Ahmadis have no right to have them (sic). He further threatened the Ahmadis that he was being polite, otherwise he could have registered a police case against them, and the mosque could have been sealed or taken over. He confiscated personal phones of the Ahmadis present at the scene. Thereafter, his team demolished the minarets and dome of the mosque. They came over the next day to finish the shameful job. Apart from the demolition, the debris caused severe damage to the floor, stairs, and the structure of the mosque.
Later, an Ahmadi delegation of the Jamaat called on the DPO, who rudely attended to them saying that they should have demolished the minarets and dome themselves. He also told them that they were unaware of the Constitution which forbids them to construct minarets and dome in their worship places (sic). The delegation replied that they had been living there for generations and no one from the local residents had ever raised such an objection. Even now, no one among the locals has complained, and this act of the police had spoiled the peace of the village. To this, the careerist DPO had no answer.
